The self-proclaimed savior of R&B, Usher, will release his new album, titled Confessions, on October 14. The Neptunes produced a number of tracks on the record, which Jermaine Dupri executive produced. ... The release date for Outkast's Speakerboxxx/The Love Below has been pushed back yet again, this time to September 23. ...

Phil Spector's scheduled arraignment on August 5 will now be a bail hearing, as Los Angeles sheriff's detectives are still putting together their case against the famed music producer. Spector, who was arrested in the shooting death of a waitress in his mansion nearly six months ago, will likely have his bail extended another month. ...

Eve 6, who are in the middle of a headlining club tour, have been tapped to open for Good Charlotte on a fall outing. Dates will be announced soon. ... Cypress Hill are at work on the follow-up to 2001's Stoned Raiders. The new LP will likely be released in the fall. ...

A two-disc compilation of Rob Zombie's greatest hits, Past, Present & Future, will hit stores on September 23. The king of the dark side is bringing together a CD of 19 digitally remastered cuts — with two new songs — and a DVD of 10 music videos, three of which are previously unreleased. This set will span the rocker's career from 1992-2003. ... A thorough '70s punk rock retrospective box set, Ever Get the Feeling You've Been Cheated? will be released on October 28. The package covers 1973 to 1980 and includes songs by punk mainstays the Clash, the Jam, Dead Kennedys, X-Ray Spex and Generation X, as well as outfits on the fringe of the movement such as Patti Smith, Elvis Costello, Joy Division, Talking Heads and Joe Jackson. ...

Andrew W.K., Hum, Hatebreed, Finch and many other artists will be rocking the stage at Anxiety Records' fourth annual Furnace Fest in Birmingham, Alabama, August 15-17. Details on tickets, lodging and more can be found at www.furnacefest.com. ... Papa Roach will perform at Vacaville, California's Travis Credit Union Park on September 6 to benefit Opportunity House and the Vacaville High School music program. The band will hit the studio in September to record its yet-untitled follow-up to last year's Lovehatetragedy. ...

Covers of "Schoolhouse Rock" favorites "Conjunction Junction," "I'm Just a Bill" and "Interjections" will be featured on a special Smash Mouth CD available for free with any purchase at a Mervyn's department store from August 3-10. A remix of "All Star" and the band's new single, "Fun," are also on the CD. ... Fischerspooner have scheduled a fall tour beginning September 14 in Portland, Oregon, and ending October 5 in Chicago. ...

07.29.2003

In addition to her NASCAR flick, Britney Spears has another film in the works, which she'll be executive producing. The singer is adapting "A Mother's Gift," the book she wrote with her mother, Lynne Spears, into a two-hour movie for ABC Family, to be called "Holly." Spears is not expected to appear in the movie, which is still in development and has yet to be cast. ...

Plans have been set in motion by the Hip-Hop Summit Youth Council to honor Jam Master Jay by renaming 203rd Street in the Hollis neighborhood of Queens, New York, after him. The Youth Council was hoping that the block would be dubbed "Jam Master Jay Way" by October 30 — the first anniversary of the Run-DMC DJ's death — but the first step in the process has to be reviewed by Community Board 12 in Queens and the board's spokesperson said it received the Youth Council's petitions too late to be considered before the board adjourned for the summer. The Youth Council said it turned in all required signatures in ample time. Regardless of the dispute over the paperwork, a street name change is usually a lengthy process that can take upwards of a year if approved. ...

Kid Rock is nearly finished with the follow-up to Cocky. The new LP will be released in the fall, with the first single due in early September. Rock produced the as-yet-untitled album at his own Allen Roadhouse studio, and is currently mixing the tracks in Los Angeles. ... It's time for the 2003 Christina Aguilera Look-A-Like Contest. If you're a Christina doppelganger, check out www.christinaaguilera.com to find out where you can send in your photos to win a grand prize that's "so good, it's still under wraps," according to the singer's official Web site. Last year's winner received a personal phone call from Ms. Dirrty herself. ...

Despite a publicity push for "Try Seventeen" starring Elijah Wood and Mandy Moore, the flick, about first-year college students and wild imaginations, is going straight to cable, carrying the new name "All I Want." The movie debuts on Starz! August 1 at 8 p.m. ... The hopes of one of Britain's bright new bands, the Libertines, seem to be dimming now that co-frontman Pete Doherty has been arrested for burglary. Doherty started behaving erratically in June when he failed to appear during the band's European tour. On Friday night, he added legal woes to his troubles when he was busted after allegedly entering a basement apartment in central London. Doherty is scheduled to appear in front of the Horseferry Magistrates Court on charges August 11. ...

Ethereal English band Elbow have to appear at Britain's V Festival in Chelmsford and Staffordshire on August 16 and 17 without their 12-foot-tall alien stage props. Police confiscated the statues on July 18 after worried drivers called police to report unsettling alien figures towering at the side of the M1 motorway. The statues, affectionately named "Elle" and "Bo" after the band, had been left at a rest stop in a farmer's field, where they were being stored before the concert. Police declared the figures a distraction and a safety hazard and ordered them to be taken down. Since then, one has broken in half. ...

Mercury Music Prize winner Ms. Dynamite had a baby boy on Friday. Her fiancé, Dwayne Seaforth, was with her at the time of the birth. Dynamite plans to take some time off to be a full-time mom. ... In October, electronic music mastermind Richie Hawtin will release his first album in five years under his techno alter ego, Plastikman. The follow-up to 1998's Consumed is titled Closer. ...